Prologue

Before neon cities and towering skyscrapers, before vehicles rushed through streets and machines soared across the sky, the world was different. It was simpler—smaller, slower. The air was thick with the scent of iron and fire, and the sound of hammer on anvil rang louder than the hum of electricity. Empires were built on steel, gold, and the mastery of those who shaped them.

It was in this world that the goblins of Galdrek thrived.

They were not myths but artisans, traders, and master metallurgists, their creations sought by kings and scholars alike. Their gold flowed freely through markets, and their runic crafts were unmatched. For a time, goblins and humans coexisted in mutual prosperity.

But greed knows no balance.

As human empires expanded, they no longer saw goblins as allies, but as resources to exploit. Their forges were seized, their cities ransacked, and their kind hunted. What was once admiration turnedto jealousy and conquest.

Realizing survival meant vanishing, the goblins retreated beneath Mount Gildspire, collapsing tunnels and erasing maps. But mere survival was not enough—they sought to escape human greed entirely, even economically.

Deep underground, they forged a new system: the GNet, an incorruptible, decentralized network of wealth beyond kings and warlords. Gold became obsolete. Their currency transcended borders, vaults, and theft itself.

And with that, they disappeared, leaving behind only scattered ruins and whispered legends.

Centuries passed, and the goblins of Galdrek faded into fairy tales. Once feared and respected, they became tricksters of myth, their history rewritten to soothe human guilt.

Their mastery of wealth became mere fables of hoarded gold and deception.

No one in the world above believed goblins had ever truly existed.

And that was exactly how the goblins wanted it.